Count Your Blessings

Here in the United States we are incredibly blessed. We have the freedom to believe anything we want, most of us earn enough money to be comfortable and we do not go hungry. Lately it seems to me that this good life we live has made us not appreciate these blessings. Especially the blessing of food security. Events this week made me even more aware of this.

A list serve I am a member of touted this bus tour coming to Kansas City, a crusade to end hunger and promote "sustainable ag". This grabbed my attention even more when I noticed this bus tour was sponsored by the Presbyterian Hunger Relief Fund. Did I mention I am a member of the Presbyterian Church?

So being one of the "frozen chosen" I went to the suggested web site. My church had a web site promoting Meatless Monday and talking about the horrors of large farms and modern cropping practices. My own church was promoting regional foods and organic production on a site dedicated to ending hunger.

I have nothing against regional foods, organic production or sustainable ag but running down modern agriculture is not the way we are going to produce enough food to feed the world. Buying local foods is a great option, for those who can afford it and who are lucky enough to live close to production areas. However, that is not the case for everyone.

The reality is that many people are sucked in by groups with other agendas who promote the idea that the food in your grocery store is not healthy. They continue this idea by telling you farmers and ranchers do not care about the environment, their animals and ultimately, you as a fellow human being. Groups like HSUS, the Sierra Club, PETA and the Environmental Working Group all fund huge budgets and make their top employees rich by promoting this self-serving propaganda.

The truth is that, we as farmers and ranchers care very deeply about the world around us. We take extreme measures to protect our environment and provide for the comfort of our livestock.
We take great pride in utilizing the modern production methods available to us to produce the food needed for our growing world population. We do this while upholding the traditions and values that have built our farms and ranches.

Agriculture is one of the bed rock foundation pieces that give us the freedom to spend our time and resources on things other than food. That is a blessing not available to most of the people in the world. Please take the time to become better acquainted with the men and women who spend their lives producing that very food and fiber. Then you will truly understand the blessing of our safe, abundant, nutritious food supply.